


The Cat of Vigil's Keep

by todisturbtheuniverse



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:57:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/todisturbtheuniverse/pseuds/todisturbtheuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pounce receives mixed reactions from his fellow Grey Wardens, but Anders swears he will never leave the cat behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cat of Vigil's Keep

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by allmyfansquees on Tumblr: The Awakenings companions and their various reactions/relationships with Ser Pounce-a-lot? (I'd love anything with the DAA cast generally, but kittens make everything better!)

"When are you gonna get rid of that damn cat?" Oghren growled.

Pounce, who was only ever violent when it came to darkspawn and mice, lifted his head from beside Anders’s plate to hiss at Oghren.

"Never," Anders declared. "What else would we talk about if I got rid of him? The particular scent of your farts?"

"Heh heh heh." Oghren brandished a flagon in his direction. Foul ale slopped over the edge. It wasn’t even ten in the morning, for Andraste’s sake. "Maybe you’d be able to smell them better if that cat piss wasn’t dulling your senses."

"I think I prefer it this way," Anders muttered, going back to his breakfast.

* * *

"Keep your cat out of my room."

Velanna dumped Pounce into Anders’s lap. He gave a yowl of protest, fur arching up when he got his feet beneath him.

"I can’t really  _make_ him do anything,” Anders hedged, scratching Pounce’s ears to calm him down. “He was probably chasing a mouse. Doing you a favor, really. Would you rather wake up with mice in your bed?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve lived my whole life in the wilderness. You think I mind animals in my bedroll?”

But then, she sneezed. Twice.

"Ohhh," Anders realized. "You’re allergic."

Her eyes watered. “Just keep him out of my room.” It was as close as she ever got to  _please_.

Anders had endured a lot, but a cat allergy? How could the Maker be so cruel?

* * *

"Ooooo," Sigrun cooed, letting the cat walk up her arm and onto her shoulder. Once there, Ser Pounce-a-lot pulled himself right up onto her head. "What a darling."

Anders watched, half a smile on his face, as Pounce batted at Sigrun’s hair. The dwarf seemed quite pleased with the attention, grinning up at the cat.

It was still new. Being allowed to… _have_ things. He’d had things at the Circle, he supposed, but nothing that didn’t fit in the trunk at the foot of his bed. He’d had his robes, and his standard-issue staff, and a few trinkets. Later, he hadn’t even had those. There were no trunks in solitary confinement.

Even Mr. Wiggums hadn’t been his. And Pounce wasn’t  _his_ , exactly. He’d never known a cat to stay anywhere it didn’t want to. If he wanted to go, he’d go.

But he stayed with Anders.

"Where did you get his name?" Sigrun asked, lifting the cat carefully from her head. He settled in her lap, purring.

"Oh, some fairytale about a tiger. I used to like it when I was young."

"I love stories," Sigrun said, scratching behind Pounce’s ears. "D’you remember it?"

Like he’d ever forget. He sat down on the rug of the throne room, recalling the words so he’d get them just right.

* * *

"Should you  _really_ bring it with us, Anders?”

"Pounce isn’t an  _it_ ,” he retorted, indignant. “He’s a  _him_.”

Nathaniel sighed wearily and shifted his bow. The Warden-Commander didn’t even glance back; she was digging through a box of silks. They’d learned by now that she preferred them to settle their own disputes.

"Should you really bring  _him_  with us?” Nathaniel repeated. “It’s not exactly safe out here for a cat.”

Anders settled his pack more securely. Inside, Pounce meowed, curling closer to his back. “I’m sure you’ll keep us safe,” he said, smirking at Nathaniel. “It’s not like anyone gets within ten paces of the helpless little mage when you and that bow of yours are on the field.”

Nathaniel went a little red around the ears. “I’m only saying. If he got out…”

"Pounce knows not to go after the possessed trees." The cat gave a  _meow_ of agreement. “And he says your concern is  _heartwarming_.”

Nathaniel threw up his hands, bow and all, and stomped off toward the Warden-Commander. Anders turned his staff in his hands, exchanging a grin with Sigrun, and took a deep breath of the forest air.

Burning trees or no, it smelled a lot better than Lake Calenhad.

* * *

"You’ll have to leave him, Anders."

"I know," he said, but he didn’t let Pounce go. Not yet. He had a few minutes still until the sun rose.

"He’s grown adjusted to the Keep," Justice said. Not sympathetically, but matter-of-factly. "It will be too hard a road for him."

His cat in his arms, Anders turned back to the Vigil. The walls were still scarred by that long night, but the scaffolding was in place to continue repairs. Already, he missed the bustling kitchen, the warm rug in the throne room, the glint of blue and silver armor, the soft comfort of his bed. It had been a kind year—the kindest of his life.

And he had chosen to leave it, because it was time to stop running.

He knelt down and gently, so gently, set Pounce in the grass. The cat gave a perplexed  _mrow_ , looking up at him.

"You’ve been a good friend," Anders told him, giving him a last scratch behind the ears. "Stay at the Vigil, Ser Pounce-a-lot. Keep her safe."

"We must go," Justice said. He had no form, not now, but Anders could feel his eyes on the horizon.

Anders turned toward the dawn. “All right,” he said. “Come on, then.”

By the time Justice had settled into his skin, a phantom weight that brushed his every thought, Pounce was long gone.


End file.
